Category Archives: 5inkyfingers Blog

With my September cards all done, I was on a bit of a roll, so I kept going and whipped out October and November while I was at it. Christmas is already finished as you probably noted in my previous post, so I’m actually set through the end of the year! 2009 marks my 4th year of sending out monthly cards to a select group of 16 people. Generally each year I move someone on or off of the list (yes I do feel bad when I drop someone), but this year is no exception. So… as it happens I have one spot open for 2009. Hmmmm… who should I send that extra card to??? Watch for information on how you can enter to win the spot! I’ll post additional details once I get the whole random selection thing all figured out. Details to follow soon! I promise!

Anyway, back to this Halloween card. As I do not care at all for Halloween, I am always at a bit of a loss for ideas. Yes, I am one of those people who would just as soon lock my door, shut off the lights and pretend I am not home on 10/31, but alas I am married to a Halloween-lover and mother to a 16 year old who loves the holiday too, so…I lose the vote on that every year. To compensate I ALWAYS go for cute rather than creepy and I am happy with how this card turned out.

Card Base: Only Orange cut 11 x 3.75. It is scored at 3.75 in. from one end. This flap is then stamped using Itty Bitty Backgrounds in Basic Black ink. I slid a piece of scrap paper under the flap to protect the rest of the card. The Kiwi piece (American Crafts textured) is cut 6 7/8 in x 3 5/16 in. One end is adhered to the flap and the other end makes up the remainder of the card front. The black is cut 6 1/4 in x 3 1/8 in and adhered to the kiwi. Now that all that basic layering was done I could really work on the design.

The sunset is brayered on the glossy white using the Autumn Leaves Kaleidacolor pad. The fence is stamped in black right over the top of that and then adhered to the card base. The pumpkin from Autumn Harvest is stamped on glossy white as well using Basic Black and then sponged orange & green. I just used the same Autumn Leaves Kaleidacolor pad. Next I cut out the pumkin and mounted it up on dimensionals.

“Happy Halloween” was stamped using my Stazon Black pad on a little piece of the kiwi paper and layered on a piece of black punched with the Word Window punch.

The finishing touch was the corners. I punched black circles using the 1.75 in punch and scallop circles from the kiwi green. These were cut into quarters, layered and embellished with the colored brads and adhered to the front of the card using dimensionals.

I was half way through the month when I realized that I still hadn’t made my September cards. When this set arrived I jumped at the chance to use it. I also have some new Cuttlebug folders crying out to be used and I liked how this particular border set worked so well with the Eastern Blooms set. I love So Saffron and Really Rust together, but surprise, surprise, the new Tangerine Tango looks great with both! Whoo hoo!

Here are the details:

Card Base is So Saffron I folded the cardstock in half then ran it through my new floral border Cuttlebug folder. Then I layered it on Really Rust.

I stamped the image on Whisper White using the Tangerine Tango ink and filled in all the flower centers with my Chocolate Chip marker. This piece is layered on Really Rust as well and tied with a piece of Martha Stewart rust and brown ribbon.

I added a strip of striped background paper that I had (Making Memories fall paper pack I think) along the fold. Before I adhered the stamped piece I punched 3 holes and inserted some antique brown brads. The ribbon is thin enough I didn’t need to use dimensionals.

Here’s the card we will be making in tomorrow’s class. I’d originally planned a slightly different color scheme, but after I finished my monthly friends & family cards I realized I had managed to all but wipe out my stock of Only Orange cardstock. Planning is everything isn’t it???

With that said, I started with Pumpkin Pie for the base card. I rolled Happy Jacks with Only Orange over the front of the card. The plaid square (4″)(ProvoCraft) was torn along one edge and then adhered. Next, I layered strips of Basic Black and Kiwi Green textured cardstock (American Crafts) and added 3 pieces of grosgrain ribbon in marigold, celery and black. The marigold and celery are folded in half and stapled to the layered kiwi and black piece and the black ribbon is tied once and adhered over the staple with a sticky glue dot. This piece was then adhered over the top of the plaid piece. The “B”, “O” are from Big Deal Alphabet and the cat is from Trick or Treat. They are stamped on Whisper White in Old Olive and Basic Black, cut out and arranged over the black and kiwi strip. I mounted the cat up on dimensionals so it pops off the card a little bit. The sentiment from October (Hero Arts) is stamped with Basic Black, and finally, for a last little bit of whimsy I added a double pair of googly eyes to the “B” and “O”.

I had a group of absolutely delightful ladies over yesterday to make Christmas cards. Some were new to the whole thing, but as one of the veterans, I have to say their enthusiasm is wonderful! Reminds me of when I was a demonstrator and my customers were so excited about stamping. Now I teach a monthly class, try to attend a few of my own here and there, and basically just enjoy that enthusiasm and the fun of stamping.

This is our Christmas card for 2008. Lots of sparkle as you can see, but I LOVE how it turned out. I made (with more than a little help from my friend) 80 of these yesterday, and I have the glitter cheeks and aching shoulders to prove it!

Card base is Soft Sky, layered on Silver Metallic. The snowflake is stamped with Tempting Turquoise on white, coated with glue with a glue pad and glittered, then layered on Cool Caribbean. The stamps are from InkADinkADoo and Impression Obsession but I used the verse from Trim a Tree for the inside. “May your holidays sparkle, shimmer and shine with joy!” How apt is that!? The snowflakes in the background are stamped in both Cool Caribbean and Silver Encore.

I was sifting through emails today between bursts of creativity and a dire need to clean up my work area, and landed on Beate’s weekend sketch #57. I’ve never posted to one of her challenges specifically – or if I did I didn’t realize it- so hopefully I did everything right.

Anywhoo… here’s what I came up with. I bought the Jersey Shore DP back in July before it retired, and realized today it isn’t a half bad match for Tangerine Tango. Not perfect, but pretty darn close. I also had a virgin stamp set – Spring Solitude – to break in.

The Jersey Shore piece is folded back on itself with a slip of Night of Navy scalloped and glued between. The flowers in the background are randomly watercolored with the aqua pen or 2 way glue and liberally coated with glitter. The white square was stamped, colored and then coated with glue using the glue pad so I could add a layer of glitter to the whole thing. The Tangerine Tango flower is cut out and affixed using the rhinestone brad and then I added coordinating adhesive gems to the corners. Note: I don’t have the inverted corner rounder, so I use different sizes of circle punches to achieve the same look. Gotta love those double duty punches! Both the flower square and the Thank You are mounted up on dimensionals. The rest is self explanatory I think.